Omizo Matsuri Festival 大溝祭

The Omizo Matsuri is the biggest festival (Reisai) of Hiyoshi Jinja Shrine in Takashima (not to be confused with Hiyoshi Taisha in Otsu which is related) held annually on May 3-4.

May 3 is the Yoimiya or festival eve when they parade the five ornate hikiyama floats in the evening from 6:45 pm. They first gather in front of Ebisu-so, near Omi-Takashima Station. This is the Minato (湊) float.

The floats are decorated with paper lanterns lit up. They return to Ebisu-so by 10:30 pm. When I went on May 3, 2010, there were local volunteer guides at the train station distributing maps of the parade route and giving directions. Very helpful.

The hikiyama float's wheels cannot turn, so they turn the float by tilting it and turning it by force. This is the Tomoe (巴) hikiyama float.

The floats are pretty small, compared to other float festivals in Shiga. So they are light enough to tilt when they need to turn. This is the Takara (宝) float.

The paper lanterns is emblazoned with the name of the float. Each name has only one kanji character. This is the Isamu (勇) hikiyama float.

Some people wore happi coats, but many people didn't. So it didn't look as traditional as other float festivals.